New Cardinals ace Sonny Gray will throw in a “simulated pregame situation” on Sunday as he works his way back from a hamstring strain, according to John Denton of MLB.com. If all goes well, Gray could be ready to pitch in the team’s opening series against the Dodgers from March 28-31. However, manager Oliver Marmol told Denton that he has not yet decided on his Opening Day starter. That suggests the skipper isn’t optimistic about Gray’s availability for the very first game of the season.
The AL Cy Young runner-up in 2023, Gray signed a three-year, $75 million deal with St. Louis this winter to be the club’s new No. 1 starter. If he were at full strength right now, there would be no questions as to who would take the ball on Opening Day. Ultimately, however, the Cardinals won’t care who makes the symbolic game one start as long as Gray is healthy enough for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
In a much less positive injury update, right-hander Keynan Middleton will be shut down for 10 days as he nurses a forearm strain in his pitching arm (first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). While Gray was the Cardinals’ biggest free agent acquisition for the rotation, Middleton was their biggest free agent acquisition for the bullpen. As Marmol told Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this “will obviously set [Middleton] back several weeks,” essentially guaranteeing that he will start the year on the IL. According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, St. Louis plans to be without the righty for at least the first two weeks of the season.
Middleton was a strong middle reliever for the White Sox and Yankees last year, pitching 50 2/3 innings and putting up a 3.38 ERA. He has spent time on the IL in almost every season of his career, and 2023 was no exception; he missed most of September with a shoulder injury. Still, his 51 appearances were his most in a season since his 2017 rookie campaign. He also posted a career-high 30.2% strikeout rate (his previous career average was 22.1%), a career-high 56.6% groundball rate (his previous career average was 32.9%), and ranked among the top 10% of pitchers in hard-hit rate and average exit velocity, per Baseball Savant. As a result, he finished with a 3.71 xERA, the lowest of his career.
While the Cardinals will hope Middleton doesn’t miss too much of the regular season, they will have to consider new bullpen options in his place. Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, Andrew Kittredge, and JoJo Romero are locks for the Opening Day roster, while Andre Pallante is a safe bet as well. After those five names, Denton mentions Riley O’Brien, Nick Robertson, and Rule 5 draft selection Ryan Fernandez as contenders for the final three spots in the ’pen. Woo suggests the team has also considered a six-man rotation, which would mean running with a seven-man bullpen.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals have a decision to make in center field. As Tommy Edman continues to deal with pain in his wrist after offseason surgery, he will not be on the Opening Day roster. Dylan Carlson might have seemed like the obvious choice to fill in for Edman, but Marmol told Denton that the starting job in center field is still up for grabs. Carlson is a contender, but so are prospects Victor Scott II and Michael Siani.
Scott is the No. 83 prospect in baseball, according to both Baseball America and FanGraphs. He boasts incredible speed and plays phenomenal center field defense. Siani has a similar skill set but doesn’t have the same upside, which could end up helping his case to win the job; the Cardinals will be less inclined to rush Scott to the major leagues. Siani also has an edge because he is already on the 40-man roster. Carlson has better offensive abilities than either of the rookies, but he’s coming off a disappointing season at the plate. Moreover, while he is a capable defensive outfielder, both Scott and Siani have elite defensive potential. If Marmol isn’t convinced Carlson can figure things out at the dish, he might prefer to prioritize defense up the middle.
Doom and Gloom. The first month was going to be struggle anyway. The team just needs to get healthy for when the schedule favors them.
Just when does the schedule favor a 71-91 team?
I guess that would be home series against the Rockies and Nationals.
Funny, however since when does a 83-79 team win a World Series? 2011?
Anything can happen in sports, man. Teams can’t sustain ultimate success year in and year out.
You mean 2006. In 2011 we were 90-72
Have you looked at the schedule?
That team (71-91) no longer exists.
We’re toast! Too old, too many injuries already, and an extension for an incompetent manager given by an equally incompetent team president!
They needed more of an upgrade in the rotation than Lynn and Gibson if they were really trying to win this season. Offense should be pretty good, but the pitching just isn’t that much better than last year. I feel like this is a “bridge year” for their pitching staff. They have a good amount of solid pitching prospects now, but most of them won’t be ready until later this season or next season.
They aren’t trying to win and haven’t tried in years. That went out the door long ago. Now they scrimp every penny with the shot of getting a wild card. That’s all they want when they extend a clown like Marmol who everyone can see is terrible at his job.
An incompetent team president who takes orders from the billionaire Dewallet family, who is to blame, more than anyone. I agree with everything you said though.
So wouldnt that make the Dewitts the ones to blame? Lol
I saw “Middleton” in the title and figured MLBTR finally had an update on where she was
Every time this team spends any money on veterans for the bullpen, it blows up. Think Andrew Miller, Holland, Brett Cecil. Middleton didn’t get that much but hope he is not injured all year. Due for some good luck.
That’s because Mozaliak has no idea how to pick quality pitchers. He never has
Playhard9—-
You’ve got that right!!!!
And for all of the money waisted on those “Has Been’s”, they could have spent it on one to 2 quality players ——instead of a player they were “wishing” could have at least one comeback season.
Former pitching coach Dave Duncan was a magician at rebuilding injured pitchers and turning them back into quality pitchers—- such as Chris Carpenter. But Dave Duncan is long gone. Just a had full of former or current coaches over the history of MLB have that talent and knowledge of how to do that.
The Cardinals may never have a coach with Duncan’s skills again. Yet they still sign hurt players as if Duncan’s ghost was still around.
They’d probably be best trading Carlson at this point. They should have done it by now anyway, but here we are. They will continue to ruin him. Trade him somewhere he can get a fresh start, and hopefully make something of himself, and get something even if not very meaningful back in return. Start siani until Scott is fully ready to take over.
I think Dylan would fit rather well in Petco’s left field.
He would fit any team with outfield needs. So you’d think he’d be a perfect fit for the cardinals, instead they won’t give him any place to play, besides maybe a platoon or as a bench bat. He needs more dedication than that. The cardinals are ruining him. Padres or any other team could probably give him the leeway to be a useful MLB player. I don’t understand the cardinals and why they essentially just gave up on him while bringing in lesser players.
He’s been given every opportunity to perform. He hasn’t done so. It’s on him not the organization.
I wholeheartedly disagree
And I love how the Cardinals always sign damaged goods, and then are surprised when bad things happen to these damaged goods
I doubt they’re surprised. They had a good strategy–bring in a bunch of low-cost, high-ceiling arms and choose among them as the year rolls on. Relievers are so volatile, and the Cards aren’t the only team to get stung spending money on them.
Doesn’t really matter. The Ollie extension says it all. Sorry Cards fans
The spring training season record thus far says it all. Below .500 . Let’s get used to it. Too many bad decisions over a long period of time. Even the Pirates continue to add players. Jim Bowden picked us to be 4th in the central. I’ll buy that all day long. It is what it is. The extension for the worst manager in the MLB did it for me. The Cardinals entire front office and coaching staff is nothing more than people who stroke one another’s egos and continue to tell themselves that they are good to go this year based on their own expert analysis. It’s a sports circle jerk on steroids.
Complaining about spring training records shows you know absolutely nothing about baseball. Didn’t even bother to read anything else you wrote.
Spring training records mean nothing. The Cardinals “won” the Grapefruit League last year, and look what that meant to their regular season record.
Also, I don’t listen to anything Jim Bowden says.
The Marmol extension? Yeah, that was dumb.
Bowdens a clown and the Cardinals had the best record in the grapefruit ( maybe both leagues?) last year and well..
1995 Braves had the worst Spring Training winning percentage to win a World Series with a 3-8 record. But besides them, it’s the 1993 Blue Jays and 2016 Cubs with a 11-19 record.. All won the world series.
Sign Bauer!
Buck Fauer.
The guy has been railroaded for his sexual preferences and the puritans ensure it continues as long as possible without concern for the effects of persecution on his life.
The Lindsey Hill lawsuit against Bauer has been dropped, but there are reports that another woman also has pending litigation against Bauer. That lawsuit will also have to either be dropped or settled in Bauer’s favor before any MLB team considers signing him to a contract.
Tell me why isn’t Victor Scott II ready for the Major Leagues opening day roster in 2024???
We’re talking about how good he is “Now”, both offensively and defensively—- in comparison to all of the other outfielders on the “Cardinals 26-man roster”.
We’re not talking about where Victor Scott’s ranking is across all of MLB.
Scott is ready to start in Centerfield and leadoff for the Cardinals right now!!!
Siani is on the 40 and unless someone goes on the 60 day, I think they’re full.
And we don’t know how ready he is. All we know is that he’s had a good camp and has been successful in AA. He’ll be up at some point but I don’t think he starts the year with the big club,
Saying New Cardinals Ace Sonny Gray should have all Cardinals fans worried.
The season hasn’t even started yet.
We won’t be last in the division y’all.
We will be 2nd to last!
Could have signed Snell, 3 years.
But that makes sense